


The Training Regime

by boredom



Series: BWNSG [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gen, Humor, Minor Thace/Ulaz (Voltron), Team Bonding, Teenage Rebellion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 01:24:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16460783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredom/pseuds/boredom
Summary: Thace takes it upon himself to train the Paladins and whip them into fighting shape. The Paladins are not so excited about this new developmentFeel free to listen to "I'll Make a Man Out of You" (AKA the greatest training montage song in the world).





	The Training Regime

“Alright, paladins, it’s time for training!” Allura said, practically sparkling as she entered into the kitchen where the paladins, Thace, and Ulaz were sitting and having breakfast.

“Ah, do we have to,” Lance whined. “We just recovered from the whole ‘Evil Shiro’ incident.” The Evil Shiro Incident was what they were calling the whole Clone and Sendak take over that had happened not even a week ago. 

“Training is imperative if you are to fully succeed in this war against Zarkon,” Thace said. “The princess is right, unless Ulaz has any medical objections to you training, you should start sooner rather than later.”

Despite their rocky start, Allura had started warming up to him. He was eager to help and did seem to genuinely hate Zarkon and the Empire as a whole. Allura would never admit it, but she was glad Shiro had convinced her to not only allow continual contact with the Blade of Mamora, but also allow Thace and Ulaz to stay in the Castle with them. 

“Yeah, but Shiro and I have barely gotten settled, and now we’re expected to train.” Keith complained.

“If you train, you’ll probably get to work on your knife skills,” Shiro said.

“Never mind, I’m in.”

“Seriously, that’s all it takes to convince you to flip? What is wrong with you?” Lance scowled. 

“Nothing’s wrong with me. You on the other hand--” 

“Enough,” Shiro said, getting between Lance and Keith. “If Allura wants us to train, we should train. We can’t have our skills deteriorating, especially when Zarkon could attack at any moment.” 

Thace was quiet as he watched the interactions. It was clear that Keith and Lance did not get along, which was a problem when they had to form a giant robot that connected their minds. Still, he wouldn’t say anything yet. Allura and Coran knew what was going with the Lions and would likely understand how to get the kids to cooperate.

Everyone stood up and made their way to the training room. 

“You have that look in your eye,” Ulaz said, packing up some books he was reading.

“What look in my eye?” 

He smirked, kissed him on the cheek, and headed towards the med bay. “I’ll be doing inventory of medicine. Try not to piss the princess off too much with your meddling.” 

“I don’t meddle!” Thace called after him, knowing that it wouldn’t matter to Ulaz. He was frustrating to argue with because he had an uncanny ability to stop the argument whenever he wanted and no amount of pushing on Thace’s part would get him to change his mind. So he was forced to leave the argument as well, lest he put more energy into something that Ulaz had decided was finished. 

He went down to the training room, interested to see what Allura was having them work on. Sadly, the video surveillance of the castle during Sendak’s attack had been damaged, so Thace was unable to see how the children worked together and their fighting styles. He knew both Shiro and Keith were relatively good in close combat, though Shiro tended to excel in hand-to-hand while Keith tended to excel in blade work. Pidge was probably too small to have a fair shot at frontal attacks against much larger and stronger (and genetically engineered) Galra but would probably be pretty decent at stealth based attacks if she were trained properly. Lance and Hunk were really the wild cards in this situation and he’d really have to see what was going on with their fighting styles and the type of training they had received previously to… oh, yeah, that’s what Ulaz was probably referring to. 

He hadn’t even been here one movement and he was already starting to develop a training regime for these kids. He’d have to trust Allura and Coran and trust that they knew what they were doing. 

oOoOoOo

“What are you doing?” Thace was horrified by the state of the training deck. The paladins were scattered all over the place fighting gladiators. He was pretty sure Pidge had thrown a punch that would have no doubt snapped her wrist in half had Lance not gotten thrown into her. Shiro and Keith were the only two that seemed to be remotely working together but even then Keith was getting way too close to the gladiators with his bayard, now in sword form, and Shiro seemed to continually freeze up, unable to move. 

“Ah, we’re training hand to hand combat for when we aren’t using Voltron,” Allura explained as Pidge went sailing over their heads, crashing into Hunk who did not want to face the gladiators at all. 

Thace felt his stomach grow a few new ulcers. He closed his mouth and nodded. Maybe she was just trying to figure out where they were all at skillswise and… oh, there went Keith who, instead of taking out the gladiator, stopped to have an argument with Lance, who was taken out two ticks later. 

Shiro went down not long after that and Allura said something about a training level that was meant for a child before turning her focus on the lions.

“You’re doing the lions now?” Thace asked. They were wholly unsuccessful with the gladiators and she wanted to move onto piloting? What was she thinking?

“Yes, of course. They need to know how to fly as one unit.” Allura said, she sounded almost sure, but there was a hesitance in her voice that made Thace believe that she did not know what she was doing. 

“Okay.” Maybe she was trying to see how well they worked together as a team… and Lance and Keith just crashed head first into a pile of dirt because they were too busy competing with each other instead of actually learning how to trust their lions. On the upside, Shiro seemed to get the purpose of the exercise and was the only one who didn’t crash. 

Allura gave another angry speech at them and then ushered them onto the next task. Thace’s stomach grew three more ulcers.

Coran was at the mic, explaining how to complete the next trial. “Normally, we’d reserve this for when you’re more advanced, but we’re in a bit of a time crunch so--”

“Stop!” Thace shouted, unable to take any more of this poorly designed, poorly thought out training plan. He’d need to ask Ulaz for some ulcer medicine later because holy hell what were these people doing? “Everybody just stop.”

Allura glared at him. “What do you think you’re doing?” 

Thace put his hands on the table, took a deep breath, and turned to her. “Can I see your training plan?” If he at least knew what she was using as a guideline, maybe he’d be able to help her tweak it and better train the Paladins. 

“Um.” 

Oh, good, she didn’t have a training plan. He was starting to get a bit hysterical. “Please, tell me you have a training plan that you are following, and aren’t just throwing these kids into random tests; hoping they don’t break a wrist.” 

Allura looked at Coran who smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. 

Thace groaned and turned to the mic. “Everyone, up here, now.” 

The children seemed a little happy about that and walked towards the door, except for Lance who was still in the electromaze and who shocked himself a few times before Coran turned the maze off. 

When all the Paladins had shuffled into the room, Thace took a dobosh to pace and collect his thoughts before turning to the group. “Do any of you have any experience training soldiers?” 

They all shuffled and looked at their feet. 

Thace took another tick to compose himself. “Hunk, Lance, Pidge, you were all in some sort of military program, correct?” 

“Um, technically, it was more of a research program.” Hunk said. “Most of our ships weren’t even outfitted with weapons.” 

Thace’s jaw dropped. “Research? You were in a research program? You’re academics?” He shrieked. 

“Ulaz is an academic.” Pidge said, crossing her arms and glaring at the ground.

“Ulaz is a genetically modified highly trained soldier designed to kill and who just happens to come from a race of people who put a high emphasis on medical skill and knowledge. The only one of you who can almost compare, is Shiro. And given the deplorable state of his stances today, it’s lucky that he can fight as well as he does.” 

“Hey!” Shiro said, though he didn’t argue any more. 

“Coran, were you ever in the military?” He was desperate for one person to know what they were doing. He wasn’t holding out much hope, but he was still desperate. 

Coran puffed out his chest and nodded. “Of course I was, 15th YSL Division.”

“That was an engineering and R&D division, correct?” Ulaz said, joining them. 

“Another researcher!” Thace cried. He turned to Allura. “I don’t suppose you ever saw the front lines of battle before you took over as leader of the Voltron Coalition?” 

“Goodness, no,” Coran said. “She’s much too young for that.

“Argh!” Thace cried, sinking into a chair and burying his head in his hands. He felt Ulaz working his fingers through his hair. 

“Normally, I would suggest we default to what you think is best,” he explained, “But Thace is right.”

“Right about what? He looks like he’s having a mental breakdown.” Lance said. 

“Possibly, but what he’s getting at is none of you know how to properly train to be effective soldiers and pilots. He knows how to train people, so he should be the one that takes up the mantle as your training sargent.”

“I don’t know, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.” Allura said. 

Thace wanted to leap up and scream at her that all of these kids were going to die if he didn’t at least attempt to help them, but he didn’t. Mostly because Ulaz’s fingers felt really nice.

“Let’s just see what he has in store for ideas,” Ulaz said. He was using that tone of voice that was soothing and authoritative; the very tone that could get just about anyone to do anything for him (he had yet to see it fail). 

“Alright. Thace, what do you suggest we do?” 

Thace lifted his head from his hands and nodded to himself. “First thing I need to do is figure out where you all are at. Coran and Ulaz, you stay and help me, the rest go down to the kitchen and wait for me to call you.” 

The kids all shuffled out, somewhat hesitantly. 

“What do you need help with?” Coran asked. 

Thace thought for a moment. Unlike the Blade or the Empire, these kids would need to work together if they were to thrive, it was the entire idea behind Voltron, five individuals working together as one. They were all too weak, physically and mentally. They needed some sort of test, some goal to aim for. Watching the paladins “train” earlier, he had managed to pick out strengths and weakness of each one. They would need to improve their strengths and mask their weaknesses if they were to make it out of this alive. He nodded to himself. 

“We’re going to give them a test. Coran, is there a large part of the castle that we don’t need to have access to?” 

oOoOoOo

They were standing in the East Wing. There were several floors Thace and Coran had managed to reconfigure into a sort of obstacle course for the paladins to work through. Thace was confident that this would jump start their training. 

“Thank you all for being patient.” Thace said. They were all looking nervously down the hallway. “As of this moment, you are all untrained and more dangerous to yourselves than the Galra empire could ever be.”

Lance opened up his mouth to argue only for Thace to hold up his hand to silence him. “Wait until I am finished.” Lance closed his mouth and Thace continued. “You are all sloppy with only basic fighting skills and this will lead to mistakes that could cost you your lives, or the lives of your teammates.” 

He flipped a switch and lit up the long hallway. “Coran and I have designed this course to push you to your limits. Each of you have strengths and weaknesses and this course is designed to force you to confront those weaknesses, and plan around it. Because I want you all to take this seriously, I’ve taken the liberty of collecting a few of your personal items and putting them at the end of the course.” 

He handed a list of the items to the Paladins as well as a picture so they knew for certain that their things had been taken. Keith’s knife, Hunk’s headband, a picture of Shiro and Keith on one of Goliga’s moons, a picture of Pidge and her brother, a necklace Allura got from her mother, and Lance’s jacket were all that were taken. 

“I’ve also put in there coupons to Losto Choco,” Thace added. Ulaz had convinced him to add it last minute. That was probably more because Ulaz wanted to go to Losto Choco and less because he thought it would help the paladins work through the maze. 

Shiro and Keith’s eyes lit up. 

“I love Losto Choco! I haven’t been in forever!” Shiro said. 

“What’s Losto Choco?” Hunk asked. 

“It’s like an ice cream parlor, but better than Cold Stone, Ben and Jerry’s, and basically every other Earth ice cream place combined.” 

“Wow, we haven’t had ice cream in so long. I’m dying for a scoop of Rocky Road,” Lance said, almost moaning at the thought of eating the desserts. 

Thace rolled his eyes. “Right, there are six coupons there, one for each of you to get a free Vrepit Sunday--”

“Vrepit Sunday?” Pidge asked. 

“The Galra are pretty into puns,” Ulaz explained. “It’s their main sense of humor.”

“It’s their only sense of humor,” Shiro muttured. 

“Anyways,” Thace could feel his eye twitching, “you can take as long as you need to to complete the course, but once you are hit, you are out.” He pulled out a tablet and stepped back. “Begin.”

Pidge went first through the maze, much to his chagrin. She didn’t get very far, mostly because the amount of gladiators he had put in the first part (and lack of vents for her to use) took her out quickly. Hunk went next and also didn’t get through the first part, freezing up and overthinking his strategy to the point where he was overtaken quickly. Allura went next and managed to get through the first part only to be defeated by the balancing section on the second part. Lance was also defeated at the balancing section. Keith got through the balancing section but couldn’t figure out how to open the door. Surprisingly, Shiro didn’t make it through the first part as well, freezing as soon as the first gladiator appeared. 

“We’ve got a long way to go.” Thace scrubbed a hand down his face. Ulaz rubbed his back soothingly, but didn’t offer any words of encouragement. 

Nobody got above a level six on the one-on-one gladiator matches, with Pidge and Hunk not getting to level two, Lance barely making it to level three, Keith making it to level four only to be immediately taken out, Shiro managing to shake out of his fear long enough to make it to level five and Allura finally getting taken down at level six. 

“Why are we taking advice from you?” Pidge asked as Allura limped off the training deck. “We’ve never actually seen you fight.” 

Thace felt his eye twitch again and started up the training sequence. He fought hard and fast with a mixture of fists, blade, and gun until he finally finished the last level and turned to the paladins. 

“I didn’t even know it went up to level four hundred and thirty-three,” Allura said, in awe. 

“How can you move so fast, yet so quietly?” Lance breathed. 

Thace straightened up, hands behind his back and started pacing in front of them. “I was raised in the Galra military tradition. At age four I was sent off to the military academy in a program that has been known to kill at least twenty percent of all who pass through it. Not only that, but I was the highest ranking cadet in my class and the second highest in the school, surpassed only by my brother. When I joined the Blade, I also passed through that training almost twice as fast as other cadets. When I am in charge of training regimens of new recruits, they die far less often than those trained by others.” He turned to look at the kids, who were all shrinking back against his gaze. “I know what I am doing.” 

He attempted to teach them to balance, focusing on just their body and adjusting as needed. To pilot Voltron, they needed to be connected to themselves, their lions, and each other.

Pidge couldn’t get down low enough in the squat, Hunk wasn’t flexible enough to cross his ankle over his knee and Lance didn’t have proper balance, tumbling forward and pulling down Hunk and Pidge with him. Keith had gotten into position only to start laughing at Lance and falling down as a result. Shiro tried to stop the argument between the two and forgot that one arm was much heavier than the other and fell over as well. With all this commotion, Allura barely managed to hold on, but finally, her leg gave out and she toppled over. 

Three quintants later, Lance tried to go through the course again and failed. 

They flew their lions through an asteroid belt. Keith made it through, but the rest didn’t and Thace was frustrated that he didn’t stop to help any of his teammates. 

Pidge failed the course the next night. 

Hunk still wasn’t doing a proper push up, never going down low enough with his elbows sticking out too far. 

Keith still couldn’t figure out how to open the door at the end of the balancing section. 

“How many punches do you want us to do?” Lance cried the next day.

“Three thousand. The bag will count for you so start punching. Jab cross movements, let’s go.”

Pidge and Hunk both didn’t seem to be connecting with their lions, afraid to make any movement because they never trained as pilots and didn’t want to accidently steer into a sun. 

“They’re getting better,” Ulaz assured him one night as Thace stared up at the ceiling, his mind racing with something, anything that would help move them forward. 

“They’re not. They’re in the exact same place.”

“Don’t say that. Hunk can do four proper push-ups now instead of one.” Ulaz sighed and tossed an arm over Thace’s chest and started nuzzling into his ear. “You need to sleep. You’re not going to be of any use to anyone if you can’t think straight from lack of sleep.”

An alarm went off. Thace checked his tablet. Allura had finally made it across the thin beams but was unable to open the door, trying to pry it open which set off alarms and summoning gladiators to her. 

He sighed and put the tablet back. “I don’t understand why they aren’t getting it. I thought taking their things would be enough of an incentive, but it’s like they don’t even care.” 

“They do care,” Ulaz said, his voice was starting to slur a bit as he was drifting off. “It’s teenage rebellion.” 

“What did you say?” Thace didn’t know why, but Ulaz’s words had struck him, deep. 

He yawned and shuffled up to his elbows so he was looking down at him. “Teenage rebellion?”

Thace nodded. 

He shrugged and flopped back down on his chest. “They’re teenagers, or young adults in Shiro’s case, they want to prove you and every other adult wrong.”

Thace grinned. He had an idea. He wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but he was desperate. He kissed Ulaz’s forehead and said, “Laz, you’re a genius.” 

“Course I am.” And then they were both asleep.

oOoOoOo

All the paladins were sore from another extremely difficult day training. They had to bond with their lions, complete a triathlon, climb a mountain, and hold a one-handed handstand for one minute. 

“Thace is trying to kill us,” Lance groaned. 

Keith opened his mouth to argue with him, but honestly, he was just so freaking tired. 

“He’s not trying to kill us,” Shiro said. “He’s just trying to make us prepared for Galra attacks.” 

“Or maybe he’s still working for the Galra, and this is his way of getting rid of us,” Hunk mumbled. He wanted to make something for dinner, but he couldn’t feel his arms. 

“I think it’s working,” Pidge said. 

“Good, you’re all here,” Thace said, strolling through into the room like he hadn’t been running around all day. The good thing about Thace was that he did everything the Paladins did. It wasn’t like on Earth where the gym teachers would tell you to run a mile and then just sit there and watch you. Still, it was frustrating because none of this seemed to phase him at all. 

“What do you want?” Allura asked, still face down on the floor and covered in mud from where she had slid off the mountain. 

He took a deep breath. “I’m leaving you all tomorrow.” 

Everyone sat up and he was met with a chorus of questions. He held up a hand to silence them. 

“I have been trying to train you for several movements now and there hasn’t been any forward motion.” 

“Yes there has!” Keith said. “Hunk can do ten push-ups now!” 

Thace glared at him and he shut up. “This is not a game. You are all in a war and at the moment, I can’t, in good conscience, let any of you fight in it.”

Once again everyone was clambering with excuses and questions. Thace waited until they were quiet again. “You are all unsuited to fight. Voltron may be our only hope in winning this thing, but at the moment, you are not.” He took a deep breath and turned to Allura. “Princess, I suggest you drop Lance, Hunk, and Pidge off back on Earth and let Shiro and Keith also leave. From there, you can work to find new paladins.” 

Allura stood up and tried to look as menacing as she could. “How dare you. We’ve won battles before you came and we can win them again.”

The others voiced their agreement. 

Thace remained strong. “The only reason you won any battles is because you had a spy in your ranks who was trying to figure out the identity of the Red Paladin. Had the Clone not been with you, Haggar and her monsters would have destroyed you all. And the only reason Shiro and Keith managed to survive as long as they did was because they hypothesized that the Red Paladin would be drawn to him, something that was proven correct. On top of that, he has had genetic and mechanical modification that has made him a better fighter.

“At this moment, the only ones who have been deciding the fate of your battles have been the Galra themselves. Had you not had the support from Zarkon and Haggar, I have no doubt that you all would have failed and been killed a long time ago.”

“No wait just a minute,” Shiro said, looking angry. 

For a moment, Thace wondered if he had gone too far. No, he had to stay strong. “Look at where you are at now. The course Coran and I designed is child’s play compared to what you will have to face on any Galra ship. Shiro and Keith only escaped because Ulaz sacrificed himself to get them out of there. Keith only survived with Sendak and the Clone because I was there to stop them from murdering him and the rest of you are only here because I was here to get you out of prison and down to defeat Sendak and the Clone, who were only injured because I made Keith crash land into the planet where Hunk and Lance were forced to find him instead of being in the castle.” 

No one argued with him this time. 

“I’ve made up my mind. I cannot train you any more.” He turned and left the room. 

Ulaz was leaning against the wall outside. “You were a little harsh.”

“I’ll buy them a cake,” Thace growled. He really didn’t feel good about what he had said to them, but they needed to understand the severity of the situation and get out of their own heads. They could be a great team. Thace knew this because they were able to go up against Sendak and the Clone and all come out alive. They just needed a push in the right direction.

oOoOoOo

Keith cursed and punched the wall after Thace had left. “Who does he think he is talking to us like that?” He asked no one in particular. 

“I can’t believe that he doesn’t think we’re good enough,” Allura said, staring down at her hands. “I’ve been trying so hard and it’s still not enough.”

“No, screw this, I’m getting my knife back.” Keith started walking towards the East Wing.

“And just how are you going to do that?” Lance called after him. “You can’t get past the door.” 

He paused and thought for a minute before turning around and grinning at them. “I can’t, but Pidge can.” 

“I can’t get past the gladiators, though. And there aren’t any vents for me to go in either.” 

Hunk stood up. “Actually, Keith, Allura, and Shiro have all gotten past the guards. They can get past them as well and clear a path for Pidge to get to the counsel.” 

“Are we allowed to work together?” Lance asked. 

“Who cares?” Shiro said, warming up to the idea. “I want Losto Choco and he’s leaving us anyways. What’s he going to do? Get mad because we worked together.”

This was enough to convince Lance. “Alright, let’s do it! Except, we only know what’s happening up until the door. We don’t know what’s behind it or even where our stuff is.” 

Pidge opened up her computer and started typing. “It’s probably being guarded by something, so we just have to figure out where he put it, and, there! It looks like it’s at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft.” 

“We’re not going to be able to get down there.” Allura said, peering at the schematics that Pidge pulled up. 

“My bayard can act as a grappling hook and get me down to the bottom. Then I can grab it and come back up.”

“Perfect. Since we don’t know what’s going to be going on behind the door, we’ll need to come up with a strategy,” Shiro said. He thought for a moment. “Alright, Keith, Allura, and I are the best at front hand to hand combat so we’ll go first through the hallways. Hunk, you take up the rear and make sure to hit anything we missed. Lance, since you’re great at long-distance shots if you can be in the middle or the rafters, when applicable, and shoot down as many enemies as you can before they get to us. Pidge, since you’re the only one who can hack through the doors you’ll need to stay as much out of the fight as possible. Stay in the middle, or in the shadows and take things out from behind.” 

“Got it.” she nodded.

“Alright, then, let’s get going.” 

oOoOoOo

“You’re pacing,” Ulaz said. “It’s very distracting and I’m trying to read.”

“What if that wasn’t enough to get them going? What if they aren’t rebellious enough to prove me wrong?” he said. 

“Have you met Keith? Also, Pidge did break into a government facility and after getting kicked out, dressed as a boy and got accepted back into the program to continue snooping. I think we’re good when it comes to teenage rebellion.” 

Thace paced around a few more times. “What if I was too harsh on them? What if I wasn’t harsh enough? Oh fuck, Hunk has anxiety and what if I induced a panic attack in him?” 

“Anxiety attack. There’s a difference.” Ulaz felt bad for Thace, he really did. He was trying his best with what he got and it was hard working with children, especially homesick ones who didn’t ask to be thrown into this war. 

“What if they haven’t even tried the course again and I have to figure out some way to leave tomorrow? I don’t think Kolivan is going to let me come back.”   
“We’ll think of something.” 

Before Thace could panic any more, there was a knock on the door. 

“Yes?” Ulaz called. Coran entered looking slightly mischievous.

“It appears the paladins are trying the course again.” 

“See, I told you it would work,” Ulaz said, putting a bookmark in his book and following Coran to the observation room.

Thace hurried after them. “There are cameras recording, correct? I want to know what they did for each part of the course.” 

“Of course.” Coran said. 

“Oh, thank the stars, they’re working together, finally,” Thace said, sitting down and pulling out his tablet. 

“You could have just told them they needed to work together.” Ulaz said, sitting next to him. 

“They co-pilot a giant robot, I thought that was a given.” 

oOoOoOo

The group skidded to a stop in front of the elevator shaft. 

“We made it, finally!” Hunk said, breathing heavily and looking a little beat-up, but he hadn’t gotten hit once.

Shiro looked around. “Alright, there are two hallways on either side that we can be attacked from.”

“Do you really think Thace would set up something so complex?” Lance asked. 

“He is supposed to be one of the best strategists in the Galra Empire,” Keith said, steadying Pidge as she shot her bayard and attached it to the ceiling.

“We can’t take any chances,” Shiro said. He thought for a minute, trying to figure out what would work best. “Alright, Hunk, you and Allura take the left hallway and keep it clear. Lance and I will take the right.”

(“Good, he’s not letting Keith and Lance alone until they can work together without arguing,” Thace muttered, typing into the tablet.)

“Keith, you stay here with Pidge and make sure no one slips through and starts firing. When you have our things, message us and then we’ll meet up at the entrance.” 

Allura shook her head. “That’s probably not the best idea. If these really are the gladiators in the training room, they can pretty much spawn infinitely.”

(“I’m glad she caught that. I was worried they had forgotten.” Coran sighed.) 

“Which means we’ll never run out of enemies,” Keith muttered. 

“Maybe so, but there is a definite control center in this area,” Pidge had brought up a schematic of the East wing on her wrists’ hologram. 

(“Finally, someone thought to bring up a map of the damn place,” Thace said.)

“Once Pidge and I have our stuff, we can use the vents to get through there.” Keith pointed at a lightly shaded area that rain parallel to the hallways. “Pidge can probably shut down the gladiators, at least for a bit.” 

“That’ll give us time to get out,” Hunk added. 

They heard some crashing coming down the hallway. 

Shiro stood up and went to right hallway. “Alright, if anyone gets overwhelmed, message us and we’ll figure something out. Let’s go.” 

They split up, and Pidge slid down the elevator shaft. Keith switched his bayard into that of a shield and sat listening and waiting. He could hear Shiro and Lance along one side and Hunk and Allura along the other. Pidge was below him. 

“How are you doing? Anything down there?” He called. 

“No, There is a particle barrier around the stuff, but it’s a pretty simple one. I’ll have it done in a sec.” 

“Okay, we’re good up here.” 

Just as he said that, Lance came over the comm. “Shit, Keith, Shiro and I missed one. It’s coming your way.” 

Keith ran to right hallway and pressed himself against the side, switching his bayard into blade mode. The gladiator dashed through and Keith leapt up, bringing the blade down on its head and neutralizing it. 

“Keith?” Pidge called. 

“I’m good. It’s gone.”

“Great, I’m almost done with the particle barrier. Got it! Alright, I’m coming up.” 

“Did you guys here that?” Keith asked. 

“Yeah, we heard. Get to the command center. We’re starting to get overwhelmed.” Allura said. 

“Do you need me to help?” 

“No,” Hunk replied. “Stay with Pidge, we shouldn’t split up.” 

(“Excellent, Hunk!” Thace couldn’t help but smile. “Always stay in pairs.”)

Pidge zoomed up the elevator shaft and landed on the ground. “Come on, Keith, the opening is here.” 

Using the tip of Keith’s knife, they were able to pry the vent cover off and slip into it. 

“Alright, heading towards the control center now. We’ll be there in a minute,” Pidge said. 

“Might want to hurry up, they’ve got us in a corner,” Lance grunted. More blaster shots could be heard. 

They went as fast as they could and kicked their way into the command center. There were only a few gladiators there and thanks to Pidge being in the vents, she had the element of surprise on her side and quickly dispatched most of them, with Keith dispatching the rest. 

They rushed over to the computer and she started typing. “Ah, I’m not sure I can get through.” She said, trying not to panic.

“Why?” Keith was making rounds of the room, ensuring that every enemy had been taken out and no more were respawning. 

“There’s this weird Galra code that’s blocking me. I don’t know how to turn it off.” She typed a few more lines before stopping and staring at Keith. “Wait a minute, you’re Galra.”

“Um, half? Why?” 

“Get over here and put your hand on the counsel,” She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him forward. “This probably would have worked with Shiro as well. Got it!”

“Guys, they’re down. Get out of there,” Shiro commanded. 

Pidge jumped off the chair and they dashed through the doors and hallways. All around them there were scattered gladiators. Some of them were broken while others were intact, just non-operational. They skidded around the corner. Keith’s ears twitched as he picked up the sound of metal behind them. 

“Guys, they’re waking up.” He said. 

“Alright, we’re at the exit. You two are close.” Shiro said. 

“I’ll go forward and give them covering fire,” Lance said. 

“I’ll go too. Keith, Pidge, try and stay on the left side so we don’t hit you,” Hunk said. 

“I got a shield up just in case.” Keith activated his shield and led Pidge around another corner. 

Hunk and Lance started blasting the gladiators behind them and they could see the door. Allura and Shiro were both holding it open. 

“Alright, we got it. Go!” Keith said and he and Pidge leapt through the door, followed by Hunk and Lance with Shiro and Allura rolling through it last. The door slammed shut and there were a few blaster shots that hit the door before finally stopping. 

Everyone was breathing heavily. Then Lance let out a whoop and started laughing. They all followed in suit as Pidge held up Lance’s jacket, bundled up to carry the items that had been taken from them. 

“Please tell me you grabbed the Losto Choco coupons,” Shiro said as she passed around everyone’s things.

“Are these it?” She held up what looked like holographic chips with neon pink triangles decorating them. 

“Yes!” Keith cried, grabbing a few and holding them to the light. “Alright, we can all get a sunday with these!” 

“I’m glad you all managed to succeed,” Thace said from the door. Ulaz and Coran were standing behind him, looking proud. 

The mood went somber fast, but Thace decided he had messed with these kids enough. They would get a straight answer. “This wasn’t supposed to be so hard. I told you from the beginning that you each have strengths and weaknesses. There’s nothing you can do about that. No amount of training in the world will make you into a perfect soldier.”

The mood lightened a bit. He didn’t seem angry at them, quite the opposite, really. 

“Voltron is not a singular entity. It is not one commander leading a bunch of mindless drones, it is a cooperative group effort. This was never supposed to test you individually. If you noticed, there were things in there that each of you excelled at, and things that each of you needed help to complete. You all are talented fighters and working together will make you unstoppable.” 

“The Glara Empire has been built by centuries of one man calling all of the shots,” Ulaz added. “If anything is going to defeat him, it’s going to be you guys.” 

“Alright, get some rest,” Thace said, turning to go back to his room. “Tomorrow we’re going to Losto Choco.” 

“Wait,” Hunk called. “What about you leaving?”

He paused and shrugged. “I was never going to leave. I just thought it was a good idea to try and get you guys to rebel a bit.” 

oOoOoOo

“This is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted,” Lance moaned as he put another spoonful in his mouth. 

“It’s even better because these things are the size of my head! Hair included!” Pidge said. 

“And they never melt.” Shiro licked some ice cream off a graham cracker type cookie before popping it in his mouth. 

“Thanks, Shiro, for telling us what each flavor tastes like. I never would have guessed that Pollay was like a mint-chocolate chip type thing,” Hunk said. “I’ll have to find one and try and cook with it.”

Keith shook his head. “Better not. The spines are poisonous and the lycas that live in the fruit can turn your skin permanently orange and your hair green.” 

The Garrison trio all looked at each other. “Like an oompa loompa?” Pidge finally asked. 

“Pretty much.” Shiro took another bite out of his ice cream. 

“You all did wonderfully. I’m so proud of each and every one of you and more proud that I didn’t have to sew anyone back together,” Ulaz said, digging into his own Vrepit Sunday. 

Everyone paused, ice cream dropping off of Allura’s spoon. “Were we in danger of that happening?” she asked. 

Ulaz shrugged. “I didn’t design the thing. Thace, weren’t you going to get us a cake?” 

Thace growled at him. “I never promised anyone a cake.” 

“You told me you were going going to get us a cake,” Ulaz said, waving his spoon at Thace. 

“What do you mean ‘us’? What have you done to deserve a cake?” 

“I always deserve cake.” 

Thace growled again but got up and went to the cake display to pick one out.

“Thanks Thace!” came the chorus from the children, Coran, and Ulaz. 

He picked out one with fruit on the top that was bursy berry flavored, which Lance described as being “chocolate” flavored. It was a flavor all the kids seemed to like. 

“So, are we awesome ninja warriors yet?” Lance asked. 

Thace had no idea what a ninja was but figured that it had something to do with fighting. He laughed. “Not even close. I have a seven hundred and eighty five page list of all the mistakes you all made, both as individuals and as a group, during the course.”

“But what about that whole speech about embracing weaknesses and learning to rely on others to counteract them?” Hunk asked. 

Thace smiled at him. “Yeah, no, you’re all still training with me.” Upon seeing their dejected faces Thace sighed and decided to add, “but, you all are less likely to die horribly now.” 

They perked up. 

“Really?” Allura said, almost hopeful.

“Yes. I’m forty-three percent sure you won’t die the next time Zarkon attacks.”

They all looked dejected again. 

“Cheer up, before it was one percent. Now, let’s start with all the mistakes Keith made during the course.” 

Lance started laughing. “Yes, let’s pick apart Mullet head’s mistakes.”

“We could start with yours instead,” Thace suggested. 

He stopped laughing and shrank back in his chair. 

“Now then, Keith, why in the universe did you forget that you were Galra? Half of those doors would have opened for you. Pidge should not have been the one to figure that out.”

Keith shrank back in the chair and Lance was still snickering, so Thace decided to turn his attention to him. 

“Lance, your incessant flirting with the Princess will get you killed.”

“And it lacked a lot of finesse,” Ulaz added.

Lance stopped laughing and shrank down as well. Thace smiled and continued on. War was unpredictable and no amount of training would ever make the kids completely invincible, but they were definitely heading in the right directions. Now, if only Thace could figure out a way to get Keith and Lance to stop arguing. Maybe that should wait until after Hunk could do eleven proper push-ups.

**Author's Note:**

> I was having a hard time coming up with what to take for Lance and Hunk since they literally left Earth with the clothes on their back and therefore didn't have anything sentimental on them.


End file.
